(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an automatic analysis apparatus and, in particular, to such a device which is capable of various analytical operations accurately at high speed, such as biochemical analysis, immunological analysis, determining the drug content in blood, and electrolytic analysis.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Various types of automatic analyses apparatus have been proposed, in which a sample is mixed with a reagent in order to observe the resultant reaction in an automatic manner. One such an example is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent application No. 60-139553, which is consists of a number of sample containers each containing a discrete sample arranged, together with diluent supply pipes, on a sample table, a number of reaction vessels laid on a reaction table rotatably disclosed around the sample table, a first and second group of reagents orderly set on a first and second reagent table, respectively, a sampling device for dispensing a sample from the sample table into one or more of the vessels on the reaction table, a first and second reagent dispensing mechansm each adapted to dispense a reagent from the reagent tables into the samples in the reaction vessels sequentially, and a photometric means for measuring the changes of the mixtures in them during a period of time by colorimetry.
However, this typical apparatus has been proved to be desirably fast and efficient in handling a large number of samples with proper identification of the reaction vessels for reagent dispensing. In addition, the photometer means requires means to adjust the intensity of light rays passed through filters, making the construction complicated. Furthermore, this apparatus cannot be used for other than biochemical analysis.
Other devices have been designed for limited purposes and might have been constructed complicated in mechanism and large in size with resultant increased costs to incorporate various analytical functions such as biochemical, immunological, and electrolytic analyses and measuring the drug content in blood into a single system, since they differ from one another in the sequence of handling samples in reaction with the reagents.
Another disadvantage of those conventional automatic analyses apparatus is the inability to keep a reagent under suitable condition until it is actually mixed with the sample. While some reagents used in enzyme analysis must be kept at strictly 2.degree. to 10.degree. C. and others are readily affected by high temperature, the environments in which they are used can be at high room temperature, deteriorating them.
It is this situation that gave rise to the present invention.